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FULL SYNOPSIS

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After a movie, teenage tramps Tommy Davis, Pig, Ape and String check into a flophouse for the night. When one of the hobos tries to steal the sack of runaway Steve Bell, Tommy stops him, leading to a brawl. The police arrive, and the boys, along with Steve, are ordered to leave town. The group rides the rails, with Tommy nursing the runaway back to health. Later, the boys are discovered by some railroad workers and are forced to jump off a moving train. Steve, however, hesitates and falls to his death beneath the train. The group then travels to Steve's home town, but when they meet Steve's mother, the kindly Mrs. Bell, they are unable to break the bad news to her. She asks the boys to stay at the Bell home until Steve's return, though Don, Steve's older brother, is not as hospitable. Tommy is later offered a job at the Steward Bell Garage, much to Don's annoyance. When the garage gets a message from the freight associate that their loads are being tampered with, Mack Steward, Mrs. Bell's partner, assumes that Tommy is involved. In actuality, Don is the one embroiled in the shipping thefts with gangsters Clinker and Marco. When Don fails to show up for a date, Mack's daughter Norene goes to the garage to find him, and ends up having dinner with a smitten Tommy. Meanwhile, Pig, String and Ape have dinner at the nightclub run by Marco. When they are unable to pay the cover charge, the three end up peeling onions in the kitchen. As they try to sneak out, they overhear Marco, Clinker and Don planning a heist, with Tommy taking the blame. The three warn their friend, but rather than leaving town, Tommy insists on staying. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bell finally learns of Steve's death, and Tommy confesses that he simply could not tell her at first, then was afraid that the gang would be forced to leave if she knew the truth. She understands and offers the boys her continued hospitality. At the same time, Don and his gangster friends prepare to steal trucker Shorty's fur shipment. Realizing what is happening, Tommy and Pig take off after Shorty. After a motorcycle officer pulls Shorty over to inform him of a blackout, Clinker knocks the trucker out, and he and Don load the furs in the gangster's car. Tommy and Pig try to stop them, and in the ensuing fight, Clinker mistakenly shoots Don. The gangster then crashes his car in the darkness while making his escape. Tommy and Pig rush Don to a local doctor's house, then hop a freight car out of town with their friends. Before they can get too far, however, they are captured by the police. Tommy is told that Clinker was killed in the crash, but before the gang can be charged with the robbery, Mrs. Bell and Norene arrive with a signed confession by Don. Cleared of all charges, the four boys then enlist in the army as part of the war effort.